


I've Got Your Back

by raptor_moon



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Hurt Tony, Kidnapping, Overworking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-07 23:33:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8820739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raptor_moon/pseuds/raptor_moon
Summary: Set shortly after the Avengers, the team is still getting to know about each other as work and missions drive them apart.





	1. Prologue - There Is No Guarantee

“You just can’t go off on your own. We are a team. We have to know you have our backs like we have yours.” Steve let his anger and frustration show. “Hawkeye was stuck on a collapsing building and needed extraction, and you weren’t there.”

Tony rolled his eyes at Steve doing his full Captain America rant. “There is no guarantee air support will be where you need it when you need it even if I had stuck with the plan.  
That’s why I improved his zip-line arrows to handle New York’s taller buildings and greater spacing and build a drag chute into his quiver to slow his descent if needed.” Tony didn’t feel the need to explain that upgrading the equipment was his way of protecting the team in his absence. 

“Yeah, that worked great.” Clint piped up. Steve glared at Clint’s bandaged ankle and raised his eyebrows. Clint sighed, “You can’t blame Tony for a rotten window ledge causing a bad landing.”

“I had found a way to shut down the kill-bots before they self-destructed and took out half the city. I ran the numbers; if I’d waited it would have been too late, and too many civilians would have been hurt. I did what needed to be done.”

“We need to get to the Helicarrier to debrief, Stark. This discussion isn’t over.”

But it was, as Tony locked himself into his workshop upon his return to the tower and didn’t emerge.


	2. Off to Work

Steve was still stewing four days later. They were scheduled for physical evaluations and training at S.H.I.E.L.D. later that afternoon. He still had not spoken with Tony. He was hoping to finish the discussion before they headed to out, but figured Tony would not show until time to go. Most of the team had gathered in the communal kitchen for lunch. Bruce was making Panini sandwiches while Natasha assembled a fruit salad. Clint sat at the island with his leg propped up on the adjacent stool. As they settled into lunch Steve was surprised when Tony strolled in. If the man showed up for lunch at all, Rogers had expected mid-engineering binge Zombie Tony, but instead, for the first time in the 6 weeks they had been living at the tower, he was faced with an immaculate suit and tie clad businessman-media Stark. Steve had come to believe that nothing of his friend Howard Stark existed in his son, but for a moment he could see Howard standing in front of him. Tony still had dark circles under his eyes, but he obscured them behind a pair of tinted lenses.

“Stark, we need to talk before the meeting at S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Steve began.

“No can do cap,” Tony responded with his media smile, “Some of us still have to work for a living.” He glanced around the room. “Did I leave my travel mug in here? I need caffeine before an eight hour flight.”

“Why wouldn’t you just sleep?” Clint questioned. 

“No time, not when you have three business teleconferences between New York and Zurich.” Tony muttered under his breath. “Slave Driver.”

“I heard that.” Pepper responded with a smile as she entered the room. She turned Tony to face her and straightened his tie. “One of those is a reschedule from four days ago when you missed it for Avengers business. You get in early, so you have a few hours to rest before your morning meeting with SI’s Swiss office management and your afternoon meeting with the Swiss government representatives. And don’t forget about the state dinner and Gala that night. Budapest has been rescheduled to the end of the week, so you’ll move into the former soviet bloc countries SI does not have operations in the next day. Jarvis has your schedule.” She sighed as she looked him in the eyes. “You didn’t get any sleep last night did you?”

“Sir has had a three hour nap on the workshop couch approximately 23 hours ago.” Tony nodded until JARVIS helpfully added, “Prior to that he had been awake for 57 hours and he also has not exited the lab for a real meal in that entire time.”

“Tony!” Pepper and Bruce scolded simultaneously. 

“S.H.I.E.L.D. needed security upgrades and engine recalibration on the Helicarrier, you needed the StarkPad and green technology updates and Legolas here needed new boots.”  
Clint looked up in surprise, “I did?”

Tony dropped the boots on the table. “Shock absorption technology kicks in when the accelerometer reading is too high.” 

“Wow, that’s great. But why?”

“You got hurt, so obviously a flaw in the system. Sorry, I hadn’t thought it through thoroughly. Hopefully this will help prevent another injury.” 

“Thanks, Tony.” Clint realized Tony blamed himself for Clint’s ankle and so he gave Captain Rogers a dirty look for planting that idea in Tony’s mind.

Pepper looked at her phone. “Happy has your bags in the car. You need to get going.” She pushed Tony towards the elevator. 

Bruce intercepted him with a cooler bag and his travel mug. Tony took a grateful sip of coffee and sighed as Bruce pointed to the cooler bag. “Lunch, a sandwich and fruit salad, so be sure to eat it.” 

“Thank, Big Guy you’re the best.” Tony clapped Bruce on the shoulder and turned to Pepper. “Is that all Ms. Potts?”

“That will be all Mr. Stark.” Tony grabbed the cooler bag from the counter and disappeared into the elevator.

Pepper sighed as the elevator doors closed and turned towards Natasha. “He should be back in a week. I hate over-scheduling him, but we have put off SI’s expansion into Eastern Europe for far too long. JARVIS has his itinerary if you need to get in touch with him. He’s scheduled for 11 countries in the next six days, and I would hate to have to reschedule, so try not to interrupt him unless it the end of the world…again.”


	3. On a Mission

When they arrived on the Helicarrier, they were called to a meeting with Fury. 

“The team is ready for the physical evaluations,” Steve began, “except for Mr. Stark. We found out this morning that he would be away on SI business for the next week.” 

“He informed me of the conflict when he finished the engine recalibration yesterday. We have some idea of his post-Afghanistan physical limitations, so we would only be evaluating the Iron Man armor, which Stark upgrades on a regular basis, so his inclusion in these evaluations really isn’t necessary.”

Steve wasn’t sure what Fury meant by Tony’s physical limitations, but he thought Tony should be able to defend himself out of the suit as well. He didn’t feel any member of the team should get a pass, but it was not his decision. 

“Actually we will be delaying ALL of your physical evaluations. We have received some intel that indicates several possible HYDRA bases in old soviet bloc countries for your team to check out immediately. This takes priority.” 

The team went to prepare for their mission. It was going to be a busy week.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Tony made it through the teleconferences, belatedly remembered to eat the lunch Bruce had packed for him and arrived in Switzerland in the early morning hours. 

He got a few hours of sleep before his meetings of the next day. 

Coffee got him through the morning meeting at SI and the luncheon and afternoon meetings with the Swiss government. 

He returned to his chalet to dress for the gala. Once more he was the belle of the ball. Tony Stark - the genius, billionaire, philanthropist, ex-playboy – schmoozed his way through the gala, nursing a single scotch through the night while making a favorable impression on industry leaders and politicians alike. 

He collapsed exhausted into bed alone and sober, wondering briefly what the team was doing before falling into an exhausted sleep.


	4. Accidents and Injuries

The quinjet landed in an open field a short distance from the suspected base. Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow went to infiltrate the suspected base, while Bruce stayed back to guard the quinjet. Hulk would only appear if a heavy hitter was needed. 

The first two sites had obviously been abandoned for years. The next site was still in use and their infiltration was discovered. It had been simple bad luck. While Steve and Natasha were inside seeking intel, one of the base’s mad scientists managed to blow something up. The scientists came swarming out of the lab on one side of the hallway and an emergency team came from the other side. Suddenly they were trapped and an alarm sounded. Clint used all his specialty arrows and most of his regular arrows, and finally the Hulk had to make an appearance to get Steve and Natasha out safely. 

They retreated to the London Hellicarrier for medical treatment. Steve had a clean bullet wound through his leg and Natasha received a deep cut on her arm that needed stitches. They made the decision to rest an extra day before heading out again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Mr. Stark, we are honored you have come to visit our facility. We hope that you will see fit to invest in our company.”

Tony shook the man’s hand. This was the third facility tour in as many days. As he moved further into the former soviet bloc countries, the likelihood of finding good companies to work with as SI attempted to spread green technology to the world grew slimmer and slimmer.

“Watch your step.” 

He was following the site manager down the metal stair case towards the factory floor. The factory was set in an old hydroelectric dam and the air was heavy with humidity. As some workers were heading up the staircase at the end of their shift, he moved towards the right and suddenly felt his foot slip. He grabbed at the handrail to keep from falling. It was also damp with moisture, so his hand slipped and he twisted his knee and ankle rather badly before catching himself.

“Mr.Stark are you ok?”

Before Tony could answer, the room started to spin. His last thought before darkness swallowed him was that the handrail must have been coated in a contact poison, quickly absorbed through the skin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A message popped up on Pepper’s computer screen from JARVIS. “Mr. Stark is off-grid. He has missed two business meetings and failed to check-in at last night’s hotel. I am beginning a trace on his last known location.” 

Pepper stared at the message and picked up her phone. She dialed Natasha’s number, but it went straight to voicemail. “Tony has been off grid for 24 hours. I just wanted to confirm he’s not off on Avengers business before I trigger a kidnapping alert. Thanks.” Pepper ended the call and stared at her phone. She would wait for Jarvis to come up with something or Natasha to call back before concluding he had been kidnapped…again.


	5. The trials and tribultions of Tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Non-graphic depiction of torture

They Avengers found the fourth site had been recently abandoned. As they had done 4 sites in three different countries in as many days, they took a day off before approaching the fifth site. They could sleep in the bunks on the quinjet at night, but it was nice to build a campfire and have some hot food for a change. 

“I wonder how Tony is doing with his business meetings.” Bruce missed his lab work, feeling like he was making a difference with some of the green technologies he was working on with Tony.

“I’m sure he’s just miserable being wined and dined, sleeping in a soft bed at night.” Clint huffed.

“You are talking about the same man that drinks weird green smoothies and locks himself in his lab for seventy two hours, forgetting to eat and sleep unless we forcibly drag him out.” Steve shook his head in exasperation. 

Natasha quirked her eyebrow at Clint while she pulled up Tony’s itinerary on the tablet and activated the hologram so they could see it. They all stared at the schedule. Steve looked surprised, Bruce sad, and Clint whistled in appreciation. Pepper really wasn’t kidding when she apologized for over scheduling Tony, Natasha thought, marveling at the madness and realizing that only an insomniac like Tony could ever keep up with it.

Soon after they put out the campfire and called it a night. They would move on the final three sites in the morning. As he tried to sleep, Steve wondered what the final sites would reveal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony awoke to a splitting headache. He was cold. Upon further contemplation of his surroundings he realized that he had been stripped to his underwear and tied to a metal chair. He opened his eyes. The world swam sideways and he fought down a wave of nausea. He blinked several times to clear his vision and tried to focus.

“Ah, Mr. Stark. I see you are awake. So now you have a choice to make. Will you agree to do what we ask of you before or after we torture you?”

“Well, that depends on exactly what your ‘oh so unreasonable’ request may be, but I suspect it will be torture, then I break free and destroy you. OR you could let me go, and by the time I can notify the Avengers of your presence you can abandon this base and leave us with a pyrrhic victory. That’s probably the best outcome you could hope for.”

Obviously that wasn’t the answer they wanted, as they decided to torture him first before informing him of their demands. From their focus on his back and stomach, he was fairly certain they wanted his head and hands working for programming something. The avoided the arc reactor, but his stomach and kidneys were not going to be pleased when he tried to move and his back and shoulders were split open from the lash they had used. When they went for his legs they switched an electrical wand device, confirming they wanted him to build something and he would need his strength to do so. 

“You will build us our intelligent kill-bots, Mr. Stark.”

“I won’t build your weapons.” Tony replied before a punch to the ribs near the reactor left his gasping for air against the pain as the world went black again.


	6. Changing Mission Parameters

As they flew over the mountains, Natasha got a voice mail notification. She knew cell reception could be bad out here, but didn’t think a Starkphone would be affected. She smirked, knowing Tony would be pissed one of his devices was not perfect. She was looking forward to teasing him with that information, until she listened to the message and its time stamp. It had been almost 12 hours since Pepper’s call, so if Tony hadn’t turned up, he’d been missing for 36 hours. She tried to call back, but as their flight path had descended into the valley, signal was gone again.

“Steve,” Natasha spoke softly, trying to get his attention. She had realized that as a S.H.E.I.L.D. agent observing Stark, judging Tony when he was dying of palladium poisoning she never really saw behind the masks. After six weeks living in an apartment that had been custom made to her liking in a tower that catered to their needs she realized she had only begun to get glimpse of the real Tony Stark and she didn’t want him to be killed before she truly got to know him.

“Steve.” She spoke louder this time, she saw Clint perk up in the cockpit and Bruce turned to listen. “Captain Rogers, we may have other business to attend to before completing this mission.”

At that announcement Steve looked up.

“Stark is missing. He had been off grid for 24 hours when Ms. Potts attempted to contact me. With the poor cell reception here, it took another 12 hours to get the message and I have not been able to make contact with her for an update.”

“Clint, can we make contact with the helicarriers?”

“Not at this altitude with the mountains, and we are close enough to the base to warrant radio silence. Do you want me to ascend and turn back?” 

“We will complete our mission to check out this base, and then we will check on Stark’s status.” 

“But if he’s been kidnapped, if he’s hurt…” Bruce trailed off, his voice small and worried.”

“Then we will find him. But he’s probably already been found, just snuck off to avoid his responsibilities or something. We all saw his itinerary.” Steve was focused on this mission. He needed their heads in the game or someone would get hurt. He resented Stark being able to distract the team from a distance.

“I’m sure he feels so much better knowing we have his back.” Clint grumbled sarcastically under his breath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Tony awoke again he was alone in the room. He made short work of the ropes that bound him, thankful once more for the training his godmother, Peggy Carter, had given him as a child. He managed to incapacitate the guard that came into the room to investigate the empty chair. He stole the guards clothes and turned the chair so they could not see the guard's face as Tony bound and gagged him to the chair in his place. With the guard’s clothes and keys he made quick work of hacking the computers and rigging the entire building to blow. The only thing he couldn’t fix was a lack of transportation. He had run out of time, as his absence had been missed and an alarm sounded. He triggered the destruct sequence and headed towards an exit. Hopefully he could get above ground and away from the building in time.


	7. Crimson on the Snow

Clint landed the QuinJet just out of range of the suspected base and they made their way in on foot. Bruce would remain behind on communications and act as back up if needed.

Hawkeye had noticed a lone figure moving away from the building and the captain had ordered them back into the tree line to wait. They watched as what appeared to be a guard make his way slowly through the snow. His steps seemed deliberate, unhurried. There was no way they could move to capture him across the open snowfield without being spotted. Captain Rogers was contemplating the best way to bring him in for questioning without alerting anyone in the building.

“Hawkeye, can you tranquilize him?” 

“I’m out of tranq arrows, both regular and enhanced. I’m out of almost everything but plain arrows, since SHIELD now depends on Stark to provide them and we haven’t been home. Can we go home soon?”

“Are you getting soft for Tony’s Tower of Luxury?” Natasha smirked, but any further comment was lost when the building exploded into a fireball, throwing the man into silhouette. He barely missed a step, so he was obviously anticipating the explosion. Steve knew now they needed to question this man. “We need to take him down, non-lethal force.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony limped away from the building. Despite the boots, clothes and heavy coat he had managed to take from a guard he knew he would not last long in the cold. He had no idea where he was and how far he needed to go to reach civilization. He hoped that the coded message he sent got picked up by JARVIS and relayed to SHEILD quickly, but he was unsure how long he had been unconscious so he did not know if he had been off grid long enough for JARVIS to be looking for him yet. He stumbled slightly as the building blew up behind him. At least he knew how to send up a decent smoke signal. Hopefully it wouldn’t attract HYDRA as well. 

He paused to look across the landscape covered in snow. There was no evidence of civilization in any direction. Tony stumbled across the snowfield. It was practically to his knees, hiding the shape of the landscape. He wanted to move away from the building quickly in case he was being pursued, but a misstep now would doom him, as he had no idea how far he would have to go to find a friendly face to help him. He made it no more than three more steps when his foot dropped dramatically, ditchwater filling his boot as he fell into a waist deep hole and pitched forward into the snowbank. Pain exploded in his side, and he saw drops of crimson stain the snow. He pushed himself up and looked down to see a bloodied shaft protruding from just below his clavicle towards his left shoulder. He could clearly see the Stark Industries logo on the shaft and “Son of a ... Hawkeye?” escaped his lips before his memories carried him back into a roadside attack in Afghanistan and he was trapped in a flashback.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clint saw his target stumble as he released his arrow. He had been aiming for the hip and leg area to immobilize the target, but with the downward turn of the body as the target stumbled in the snow, the arrow had quite possibly pierced a lung. His disappointment changed to terror as he heard Steve suddenly call out in confusion, “Stark?”


	8. A hit, a very palpable hit

Steve watched as the target stumbled and the shot he had ordered the archer to take hit the man in the torso instead of the leg. He hated the thought that they might have killed the man, but the sudden explosion of the facility led him to believe it had been HYDRA, so they needed the information. 

When his serum-enhanced hearing heard swearing and the name “Hawkeye?” breathlessly whispered in Tony Stark’s voice, the pieces came together. The slim file on Stark’s kidnapping in Afghanistan, stating he was found when a suspected terrorist cell location suddenly blew up. Pepper calling Natasha, stating Tony gone “off grid” which Steve understood meant being unable to be reached electronically. If Tony had been kidnapped, kidnapped by HYDRA, then this was him escaping and he just ordered Hawkeye to put an arrow through…”Stark?”

Steve took off running towards the fallen man, Clint close on his heels. Natasha’s voice came through on the comms. “Captain, update!”

“Tell Dr. Banner to be ready for an injury.“ Steve did not want to say more until he had confirmation.

They reached the man and turned him carefully over. It was their missing businessman. Tony’s eyes were staring at the SI logo on the arrow shaft protruding from his chest, but whatever he was seeing was miles and years away. His breathing was shallow as if he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs and he was reaching for the shaft like he wanted to yank it out, which would not be a good idea.

Clint identified the problem first. “He’s having a panic attack. Keep him from pulling out that arrow and making things worse.”

Steve restrained Stark while Clint put a hand on each shoulder, staring into his face. “Tony, you’re safe now. You were doing SI work in Europe and were kidnapped. But you are safe, back with the team. Steve and I are right here. Natasha and Bruce are in the Quinjet. As soon as you can acknowledge us we will get you into the nice warm Quinjet and get your injuries treated.”

Tony struggled against their hold and then shuddered and released a tortured breath. “Bird-brain…you shot me?”

“Captain’s orders!”

Steve had the decency to look ashamed. “In my defense, I did not know it was you.”

Bruce’s voice broke over the comms. “Is he safe to move or do I need to come out there to stabilize him?”

“Are you ok to move?”

Tony nodded. With a groan they got him upright, but not without more crimson drops of blood spilling onto the snow.

They got Tony settled in the back of the quinjet and Clint hurried forward to start take-off preparations. 

Bruce took over. “I shouldn’t remove the arrow…” He stopped, noticing Tony’s breathing speeding up. “Tony, stay with me!”

“If you don’t get this thing out of me, I don’t think I will be able to…” Tony focused on taking a slow breath, three counts in, hold and slowly release. “The fletching unscrews, the shaft is a slightly smaller diameter than the arrow head, so it should pull out cleanly.”

“But it may be stopping the internal bleeding…”

“And if I go into a full blow panic attack, I’m going to rip this out and do more damage. The damn thing has my name on it!” Tony’s breathing was speeding up again, he was losing the little bit of control he had.

Natasha came over and placed a hand on either side of Tony’s face. “Stark, look at me. Stay with me. We are in the quinjet. We are taking you to medical. We need you to stay calm and stay still while Bruce takes the arrow out.”

“Steve, I need you to grasp the arrow at the entry and exit point. Try to keep it from shifting in his body as I unscrew the feathers.” Steve nodded. “Tony this is going to hurt.”

“As compared to having your chest cut open without anesthesia?” Tony gave a harsh bark of laughter. “Just do it.”

Bruce looked confused but did as he was told. Except for a slight wince with each turn of the fletching and an almost filthy groan as the arrow was removed, Tony stayed still and quiet. 

“Ok, well while I still think it was wrong to remove the arrow until we could get x-rays and see what internal damage it did, it will be easier to get you undressed to see the wound.” Bruce said, as he began to tug at the coat.

“I knew you just wanted to see me naked.” Tony quipped, and then groaned as the movement sent fresh waves of pain through his body. When they got down to removing his shirt, Tony heard a gasp from Steve and noticed a flash of green in Bruce’s eyes.

“They tortured you.” Natasha stated.

“They wanted me to build intelligent kill-bots. I said no. They tried to persuade me. I blew up their base. End of Story.”  
Tony hissed as Bruce pushed at the bruise near his reactor. 

“Those ribs may be broken.” Bruce looked concerned. “They help support the arc reactor?” 

Tony nodded. “With the arrow wound you would want me to rest on my right side, but with broken right ribs…”

“Steve, I am going to need you to make sure Tony stays sitting upright.”

Bruce did his best to stitch up the small wounds made by the arrow. He was worried about complications, but they would be at S.H.I.E.L.D. medical soon.


	9. Stay With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At Shield Medical

When they reached S.H.I.E.L.D. medical Tony started to panic again. “Bruce, promise you’ll stay with me. You can’t let them touch the reactor. Don’t let them remove it. No pictures, propriety Starktech, and it they take it out it will KILL ME!”

“Tony, deep slow breaths. I’ll stay right beside you through the whole thing, but you have to calm down.” Bruce was desperate to keep Tony from hurting himself more. 

Tony tried to take a deep breath, but found he couldn’t. He felt like the arc reactor was crushing his lungs. He looked at Bruce, his brown eyes filling with panic.  
“Possible hemothorax.” Bruce yelled to the surgical team. “Tony, stay calm. They can fix this. We just need to get you into surgery.”

An IV was started and Tony was sedated, but Bruce stayed with Tony through X-rays and surgery. Fluid was drained from the lung and pleural cavity. Bruce was still by his side three hours later when he was rolled into recovery.

“Bruce, how did it go?” Natasha asked. She stood to offer him the only chair. Steve and Clint were waiting by the door. 

“He came through surgery well enough. You just don’t realize how invasive the arc reactor is until you see it up close.”

Steve and Clint came in to the room to check on the sleeping genius. They were all still standing there when the surgeon came into the room and threw 2 x-rays up on the light box.

“So here are the before and after surgery films. You can see we drained the fluid and repaired the damage from the arrow. While the bruising to his stomach and kidneys is dramatic, there appears to be no major damage. Just don’t be alarmed if he sees some blood in his urine over the next few days. The lacerations on his back required a few stitches, but don’t appear likely to get infected.”

“So he should be ok in a few days?” Steve asked. 

“More like six to eight weeks. Right now I am most concerned with the one broken and two cracked ribs. They are ribs that were originally cut to make room for and now support the arc reactor housing. As best we can ascertain it is a cylinder of titanium approximately 4 inches in diameter extending 3.5 inches into his chest cavity. Dr. Banner calculates that is about 1.15 kg or 2 ½ pounds of metal. Until those ribs heal, he risks damage to his heart and lungs if that reactor housing slips.”

“You’re saying we are going to need to keep an insomniac genius,“ Clint began.

“Known for leaving the hospital AMA,” added Natasha.

“Out of the lab for at least two weeks, and out of the suit for the full eight…” Bruce sighed.

The surgeon continued. “And between the damage to the lung and pain from the broken ribs, pneumonia is a real danger. Frankly with the restriction on his lung capacity from the arc reactor and discomfort from that mass of metal in his chest, I am surprised he isn’t suffering from chronic chest infections. Prophylactic antibiotics, deep breathing exercises and pain control will be critical for the first two weeks.”

“So you are saying that thing in his chest is always interfering with his ability to take a deep breath?” Steve asked.

“I think that would be the post-Afghanistan physical limitations Fury mentioned.” Natasha smirked.

A cough and moan drew everyone’s attention to the bed. Bruce offered the straw and Tony took a sip of water.

Tony glared at Captain Rogers. “Doesn’t matter.”

They looked at each other. Natasha figured it out first. “No. it doesn’t. You fight in the suit. You constantly upgrade your suit and our tech. Protecting yourself and us.”

“And it’s your genius outside of the suit that does that.” Bruce added. “But you need to bed rest to heal. No lab for two weeks minimum.”

Tony took a deep breath to protest, but winced in pain at the action.

Bruce pressed the trigger mechanism for patient controlled analgesia into Tony’s hand. “Press this when the pain gets too intense.” Bruce explained, pressing the button for him. 

“Not fair…, Bruuuucccceee,….” Tony slurred his words, starting to drift off. Bruce had adjusted his pain medication.

“So we need a plan to keep Tony out of the lab and resting,” Clint whispered glancing down at the now sleeping genius and then up at Bruce, Natasha and Steve. “It will take the whole team, but don’t worry, Tony, we’ve got your back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This concludes the original storyline / plot idea I had. I am tempted to write an epilogue of domestic fluff showing their attempts to keep Tony resting for two weeks. Respond in the comments if you think it should end here or have such an epilogue.


End file.
